Papers of the Week

Around 20% of patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery have persistent back or leg pain despite surgery. Pain catastrophizing is the strongest psychological predictor for chronic postsurgical pain. Psychological variables are modifiable and could be target for intervention. However, randomized controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of psychological interventions to reduce chronic pain and disability after spinal fusion in a population of patients with high preoperative pain catastrophizing scores are missing. The aim of our study is to examine whether an intervention targeting pain catastrophizing mitigates the risk of chronic postsurgical pain and disability. Our primary hypothesis is that targeted perioperative cognitive behavioral therapy decreases the risk of chronic postsurgical pain and disability after spinal fusion surgery in high catastrophizing patients.